TEMPE, AZ - Arizona State Sun Devils hosted their season opener at Sun Devils Football Stadium against UTSA Roadrunners. They also welcomed their new head coach, former NFL coach Herm Edwards. Many have picked Arizona State to be the favorite in this game despite the 2017 season the Sun Devils had (7-6). ASU answered the prediction as they dominated this game from the beginning. Both offense and defense scored on the first two possessions to a 49-7 victory.
UTSA Roadrunners started their third season with head coach Frank Wilson. They struggled offensively last year with an average of 23.5 points per game and allowing only 17.2 points defensively. The Roadrunners have decided to start with a QB Cordale Grundy (15) as this is his first NCAA Division I start. He completed 16 passes for 187 yards while B.J. Daniels rushed only 24 yards and 9 catches.
ASU Sun Devils kept the UTSA Roadrunners scoreless for most of the game. With 2nd & 13 at UTSA 22 and 13:01 in 1st quarter, Roadrunners QB Grundy throws a pass that was intercepted by Sun Devils DL Shannon Forman (97) and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. UTSA's defense was ready to change the momentum of the game and stopped the Sun Devils on their next few drives. This slight change wasn't enough to keep the Roadrunners hyped enough to keep the Sun Devils down. As Grundy fumbled and turned the ball over, the Sun Devils was able to capitalize and now lead with 21-0. From this point it didn't seem like the Roadrunners were mentally into the game - the sideline was very silent.
Coach Frank Wilson has time to make changes for their upcoming opponents in the next two weeks.
Next Saturday, Sept 8, the Sun Devils host No. 12 Michigan State Spartans (1-0) off their home win against Utah State. Harry had a great game against UTSA, but everyone will have to be more involved against the Spartans.
Coach's View:
Head Coach Herm Edwards wins big against Head Coach Frank Wilson in the season opener. After the game, the first word out of Edwards mouth was "sloppy." because of the 11 penalties called against ASU. Edwards stated, "I didn't like what I was watching a lot of the times. The big plays are one thing, but you play against good football teams you want to have sustained drives." Along with these feelings, he stated that "he is glad they got a win. They didn't disappoint me. I'm happy for them."
Head coach Frank Wilson stated in a post game interview that "if the game had played itself out and they were an inferior opponent - its one thing. The score would indicate that, but the film doesn't show that." He feels his team didn't play the game that they are capable of playing at the time. He also stated "things that were fundamentally practiced were not executed in the game." He feels that his offensive and defensive line didn't not communicate with one another while they were out there. The good is that they are all correctable mistakes. He felt ASU took advantage of the things that they were not aligned in and ran with it
Scoring Summary
The Sun Devils have many returning players such as QB Manny Wilkins (5) and top receiver N'Keal Harry (1).